Khaleda gets certified copy of graft verdict

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s lawyer today received certified copy of the judgment of Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

Khaleda, who is now in jail, can file an appeal with the High Court against the lower court verdict that sentenced her five years imprisonment and seek bail in the case.

Mokarram Hossain, an assistant of the Special Judge Court-5 of Dhaka, officially supplied the 1100-page verdict to Khaleda's lawyer Sanaullah Miah.

On February 8, Khaleda was sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment in Zia Orphanage trust corruption case, which is a severe blow to the party ahead of the upcoming national elections.

The special court also sentenced Khaleda's eldest son and BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman, and four others to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Tk 2.10 crore each.

The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the case with Ramna Police Station in July 2008, accusing Khaleda and the five convicts of misappropriating over Tk 2.1 crore that had come from a foreign bank as grants for orphans.

On February 11, the special court directed the jail authorities to provide Khaleda with first-class division in line with the jail code as well as allowing her house help to stay with her in jail.

On the night of the same day, she was shifted to one of the four rooms on the first floor of the renovated day-care centre in the jail from the room of a nearby two-storey building once used as office of the jail superintendent.